Top General News

US military says Gaza Strip pier project is completed, aid to soon flow as Israel-Hamas war rages on

May. 16, 2024 06:21 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. The final,...

The top UN court is holding hearings on the Israeli military's incursion into Rafah

May. 16, 2024 04:09 AM EDT

THE HAGUE (AP) — The United Nations’ top court opens two days of hearings on Thursday into a request from South Africa to press Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population has sought shelter. It is the...

Slovak interior minister says 'lone wolf' has been charged with shooting prime minister

May. 16, 2024 07:44 AM EDT

BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — The Slovak interior minister said Thursday that a “lone wolf” has been charged in the shooting that seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico and prompted soul-searching among leaders in the deeply divided society. Fico was in serious but...

China and Russia reaffirm ties as Moscow presses offensive in Ukraine

May. 16, 2024 08:44 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday for China's proposals on ending the war in Ukraine, which have been rejected by Ukraine and its Western supporters as largely following the Kremlin's line. At their summit, Putin and Xi...

Will jurors believe Michael Cohen? Defense keys on witness' credibility at Trump's hush money trial

May. 16, 2024 06:34 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — With prosecutors' hush money case against Donald Trump barreling toward its end, their star witness will be back in the hot seat Thursday as defense lawyers try to chip away at Michael Cohen's crucial testimony implicating the former president. The trial, now in...

The Commission on Presidential Debates faces an uncertain future after Biden and Trump bypassed it

May. 16, 2024 00:31 AM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has planned presidential faceoffs in every election since 1988, has an uncertain future after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump struck an agreement to meet on their own. The Biden and Trump...

US prisoners are being assigned dangerous jobs. But what happens if they are hurt or killed?

May. 16, 2024 08:47 AM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Blas Sanchez was nearing the end of a 20-year stretch in an Arizona prison when he was leased out to work at Hickman’s Family Farms, which sells eggs that have ended up in the supply chains of huge companies like McDonald’s, Target and Albertsons. While assigned to a machine...

Florida deputy's killing of Black airman renews debate on police killings and race

May. 16, 2024 00:12 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In 2020, the top enlisted leader of the Air Force went public with his fear of waking up to the news that a Black airman had been killed by a white police officer. Then four years later, a Florida deputy shot and killed Senior Airman Roger Fortson in his...

Violence rages in New Caledonia as France rushes emergency reinforcements to its Pacific territory

May. 16, 2024 08:14 AM EDT

Violence raged across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day on Thursday, hours after France imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory, boosting security forces’ powers to quell deadly unrest in the archipelago where some residents have long sought to break free from...

All eyes are on Coppola in Cannes. Sound familiar?

May. 16, 2024 08:10 AM EDT

CANNES, France (AP) — Francis Ford Coppola on Thursday will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival a film on which he has risked everything, one that's arriving clouded by rumors of production turmoil. Sound familiar? On Thursday, Coppola's self-financed opus “Megalopolis” will...

Latest General News

White House blocks release of Biden’s special counsel interview audio, says GOP is being political

May. 16, 2024 08:56 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur that's at the center a Republican effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, the Justice Department told lawmakers in a letter publicly...

France imposes emergency in Pacific territory of New Caledonia as violent unrest turns deadly

May. 16, 2024 08:50 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — France imposed an emergency Wednesday in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia for at least 12 days, boosting security forces’ powers to quell deadly unrest in the archipelago where indigenous people have long sought independence. Armed clashes and other...

US applications for jobless benefits come back down after last week's 9-month high

May. 16, 2024 08:48 AM EDT

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remain at historically low levels even as other signs that the labor market is cooling have surfaced. Jobless claims for the week ending May 11 fell by 10,000 to 222,000, down from 232,000 the week before, the...

US prisoners are being assigned dangerous jobs. But what happens if they are hurt or killed?

May. 16, 2024 08:47 AM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Blas Sanchez was nearing the end of a 20-year stretch in an Arizona prison when he was leased out to work at Hickman’s Family Farms, which sells eggs that have ended up in the supply chains of huge companies like McDonald’s, Target and Albertsons. While assigned to a machine...

China and Russia reaffirm ties as Moscow presses offensive in Ukraine

May. 16, 2024 08:44 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday for China's proposals on ending the war in Ukraine, which have been rejected by Ukraine and its Western supporters as largely following the Kremlin's line. At their summit, Putin and Xi...

Police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at DePaul University in Chicago

May. 16, 2024 08:40 AM EDT

CHICAGO (AP) — Police began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday at DePaul University in Chicago, hours after the school's president told students to leave the area or face arrest. Officers and workers in yellow vests cleared out tents and camping equipment at...

Mosque attack in northern Nigeria leaves 8 people dead. Police say the motive was a family dispute

May. 16, 2024 08:33 AM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least eight worshippers were killed and 16 others injured early Wednesday morning after a man attacked a mosque with a locally made explosive in northern Nigeria’s Kano state, resulting in a fire outbreak, the police said. The suspect, a 38-year-old local...

White House blocks release of audio of Biden’s special counsel interview, arguing GOP wants it for political reasons

May. 16, 2024 08:33 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House blocks release of audio of Biden’s special counsel interview, arguing GOP wants it for political reasons.

US Navy flagship carrier USS Ronald Reagan leaves its Japan home port after nearly 9 years

May. 16, 2024 08:28 AM EDT

YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — A U.S. Navy strike group's flagship aircraft carrier left its Japanese home port on Thursday, wrapping up nearly nine years of deployment in the Indo-Pacific, where it served a key role in the U.S. effort to bolster defense ties with Japan and other partners in the region. ...

Georgia's leader says a divisive media bill passed by lawmakers is unacceptable and she'll veto it

May. 16, 2024 08:26 AM EDT

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A controversial media bill passed this week by Georgia's parliament is “unacceptable” and will be vetoed, President Salome Zourabichvili said Thursday, reaffirming her opposition to a measure that critics describe as a threat to free speech. In an...